ASRock Z68 Extreme4 motherboard likes and dislikes

Posted by Paul Braren on Jul 17 2011 (updated on Oct 29 2012) in
  • BIOS-UEFI
  • CPU
  • Motherboard
  • Reviews
    • 4 Comments

    Pricing info in this newegg.com screenshot as of Jul 17 2011 subject to change at any time:

    I’ve been able to spend about 10 days with the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 motherboard, and I’m now able to give it a cursory overview, having kicked the tires a bit, with both Windows 7 x64 SP1 and VMware ESXi 4.1U1.

    Likes

    Full Virtualization Passthru Support:
    VT-d / VMDirectPath / DirectPath I/O Configuration works!

    Good efficiency:  Entire system (10 3.5” drives, 3 SSDs, 1 DVD, 16GB RAM) coupled with Core i7 2600 (not the 2600K) consumes about 168 watts at idle, which was a tie with the MSIZ68A-GD80 (B3) motherboard I previously used in the same configuration.  That drops to about 138 watts, if 7 of the drives are idle and spun down (controlled by LSI RAID controller).  Haven’t properly loaded it yet to test for max watts.

    Graphical UEFI is quite friendly:
    Having had time using 4 Z68 based motherboards, here’s the personal preference order I’d put them in:

    1. ASRockZ68 Extreme4  (elegant layout, great ease of use)
    2. ASUSP8Z68-V PRO (attractive layout, fairly easy to use)
    3. MSIZ68A-GD80 (B3) (very good function, but inconsistent mouse clicks aggravating)
    4. GigabyteGA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 (not really full UEFI)

    I can say that the least irritating is the ASRock UEFI (BIOS).  Admittedly, one shouldn't have to spend much time the BIOS once the system is operation, but it doesn't hurt for it to not be a dreaded task either.  I found everything I needed quickly and easily (boot order tweaks, VT-d and virtualization features, etc.).  And I especially like F11 at boot time, for convenient choice of boot OS (ESXi on USB key or Windows 7 on disk), without having to really go into the BIOS.

    FYI, here's current list of all newegg.com Z68 ATX motherboards that they carry.

    Dislikes

    Only one network port (I’d prefer at least 2 built in, for versatility, teaming, & VPN stuff I tend to try)

    This is nitpicking, and not a fatal and/or showstopper type of an issue for me, and one that may be resolved at some future release level of ESXi.

    So, instead, I’m using an added Intel NIC that works well for my needs.

    newegg-z68scompared-2011-07-17screenshot
    4 ASRock Z68 Motherboards on Newegg July 17 2011

    All Comments on This Article (4)

    Matt




    Tried the
    AsRock Z68 Professional Fatal1ty Gen3.0 (Although targeted at Gamers with its
    Fatal1ty branding, it has two network ports)



    I’m new to Virtualisation
    but am trying to get it to work on this board to host my WHS2011.


    Mercus Chan

    Thank you.

    So, I think I just wait Asus Engineer to fix the bios......

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Yes, I had no issue running Windows 7 x64 as a guest VM under ESX 4.1U1, using any of the Z68 motherboards I tested, see also:
    http://tinkertry.com/vmdirectpath

    Mercus Chan

    Hi, I use ASUS P8Z68-V LE + i5-2500k recently.
    I found that it's not possible to run Windows 7 x64 as guest vm
    It's work in ASUS P8P67.

    Have you get this problem from these your listed z68 motherboard?